Chapter 100
* * *
“Phew….”
Ragged breaths escaped me. I was doing push-ups in my room.
These days, I couldn’t go to the gym, so I figured I should at least exercise at home.
“Phew…….”
It was a bodyweight exercise, but it still gave me quite a workout. It wasn’t bad when I was short on time.
I’ll do just a few more sets like this—
“Oof—”
Thud—!
The door flew open and slammed straight into my head.
Clutching the crown of my head, I rolled backward.
The door had to open just as I was getting into position right in front of it.
“Oh.”
Lee Seungah let out a startled monosyllable. Looking down, she froze with one hand awkwardly pushing the door.
She looked me over to see if I was all right.
“Uh… um, are you okay…?”
“Tss…….”
The throbbing at the crown of my head made my mouth close on its own.
I glared up at Lee Seungah.
“…Hey. Knock when you come in.”
“…Um, sorry.”
Lee Seungah’s eyes darted around.
— “Well… who would’ve thought someone would be exercising there….”
Her Minimi puffed out its cheeks. Perhaps it was upset at being scolded; its lips stuck out a mile.
If I got any angrier, she’d just sulk for no reason. She was a younger sister who was such a pain to deal with.
I slowly calmed my breathing and asked why she had come.
“What is it?”
“…Mom told me to bring this for you to eat.”
Lee Seungah held out a plate of fruit.
“Oh, thanks.”
I took it and set it on the desk. I’d eat it after I finished what I was doing.
Apparently that was all she had come for. Lee Seungah turned around and started to leave.
“Oh, and.”
Lee Seungah stopped abruptly.
I looked over, wondering what was up.
“The festival at your school tomorrow. I’m going, too.”
She made that unilateral declaration.
I tilted my chin.
“? How are you getting in?”
“Apparently outsiders can enter, starting at four.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Seungah nodded.
— “It’s his own school festival, and he didn’t know?”
Her Minimi let out a mocking chuckle.
I might not know something like that.
“…But is there anything for you to see when you come?”
“Nuri unni said she’d be performing then and told me to come hang out.”
“Ah—”
So that was why she had suddenly said she was coming.
Ji Nuri must have mentioned it first.
“……”
I nodded.
I didn’t really care. Whether Lee Seungah came to hang out or not was up to her. If she wanted to come, there was no reason to stop her.
“…But aren’t you preparing for your entrance exams?”
Still, I was curious about that.
She was in middle school, but she was a third-year student too.
It was September, so in just a few months, she’d be a first-year high school student. She was pursuing art, too. This should have been a busy time for preparing for her entrance exams.
“If skipping one day means I can’t pass, then I was never going to make it anyway.”
Lee Seungah said it in a matter-of-fact tone. She didn’t seem particularly worried.
She leaned against the doorframe with a confident air.
“……”
She had a point.
I nodded, convinced.
— “I thought it might be fun to show up without telling them….”
Her Minimi folded its arms and tilted its head.
Still, she was telling us.
“Anyway, I just wanted you to know.”
— “Ah, I shouldn’t tell the unnies.”
With that, Lee Seungah returned to the living room.
It looked like she intended to surprise them.
I wondered if I should tell them… but it did seem more fun this way.
In that respect, Lee Seungah and I were on the same wavelength.
* * *
“……”
I arrived at school early.
I could see other people bustling around from the hallway.
Of course, they were all first- and second-years. The third-years weren’t coming to school today.
Apparently, there had been complaints when they made them self-study in their classrooms last year, so this year they had changed it to studying at home entirely.
‘I wonder if everyone’s here.’
I opened the clubroom door and went inside, thinking that.
“This is pretty good—”
I saw Isol’s two cheeks puffed out thickly.
There was popcorn in the bowl she was holding.
Apparently, she had been taste-testing it.
She met my eyes in exactly that state.
“……”
Isol abruptly turned her head away, chewed with her cheeks full of popcorn, then swallowed.
“…You’re here?”
She dabbed at her lips with her hoodie sleeve and brushed past the situation.
“…You started preparing already?”
I played along and walked inside.
Everyone had come early.
Popcorn popped and bounced.
It was the kind you microwaved from a convenience store. One bag made quite a lot, enough to divide into several bowls.
It was good value for money.
[Win a 10,000-won gift certificate for just 1,000 won.]
We had taped together several sheets of A4 paper to make the sign and posted it in front of the counseling room.
That finished our preparations.
Then we laid out low tables and cushions in front of the counseling club. That completed everything.
The reason for using low tables was that it would make it easier to sneak a look at the cards from behind.
The event started at 9 a.m., so we just had to wait a little.
…….
After a short wait, the event began.
Students gradually began wandering around to look at things, or buying food and eating as they walked.
“……”
— “What’s this place…?”
A female student peeked into the counseling club.
Since it said “Games,” she seemed interested and looked around.
“Would you like to give it a try?”
At my question, the girl cautiously approached the table in front of the seats.
Our first customer had arrived.
“The entry fee is 1,000 won, and if you win at Indian poker, you can exchange it for a 10,000-won gift certificate.”
Since she wasn’t someone I knew, I continued speaking as gently as possible.
She handed over 1,000 won readily, thinking she’d try it just once.
I took it and continued.
“You know the rules, right? Or would you like me to explain them once?”
“…Please explain them once.”
“Then I’ll explain as we play.”
I placed the coins on the table and began explaining.
“All right. Here are ten starting coins.”
I picked up ten of them and handed them to her.
“When the game starts, we each get two cards.”
I shuffled the cards and dealt her two, then two to myself.
“Hold one in front of your forehead without looking at it. You can look at the other one yourself.”
— “Like this…?”
She awkwardly copied what I did.
“You have to pay one coin as the entry fee for each game.”
“Like this?”
“Yes.”
I also placed one coin on the table.
She caught on right away.
“If you think the sum of the cards you’re holding is lower than your opponent’s, say ‘fold.’ In other words, you can give up the coins you bet and move on to the next game.”
I added the tip that it was best to give up quickly if your hand was bad.
I glanced down at my card and said,
“I’ll add one more. Are you folding?”
“I’ll match you.”
That made four coins on the table.
We had bet two each.
“When the same number of coins has been bet like this, we reveal our hands.”
I lowered the card from my forehead and revealed the card in my hand.
The sum of the numbers on her side was higher.
“The person with the higher total takes all the coins that were bet.”
I pushed all the bet coins toward her.
That left me with 8 coins and her with 12. She looked down at them, the corners of her mouth twitching.
“If you keep playing until your coins reach zero, you lose. Understand?”
“Yes—”
She gave a small nod.
Having won the first round, she began the game with a boost of confidence.
“Then let’s go straight into the next round.”
I shuffled the cards and glanced around.
— “Let’s see……since it’s a six.”
I faintly heard Isol’s Minimi amid the crowd, naturally hiding itself.
I placed a hand against my left cheek and gave a small hand signal toward her.
Isol, who was relatively short and good at going unnoticed, had taken on signaling duty.
— “Hmm, it’s iffy……should I bet or not?”
The girl in front of me fell into thought.
Since my number itself was higher, folding would be a problem.
“I’ll put up just one coin.”
I took a passive stance and invested little.
— “……Looks like it’s less than I thought.”
The Minimi in front of me muttered as much.
“I’ll put up two.”
Thinking that was fine, she added more coins.
“I’ll make it three.”
I added another coin on top of that.
She hesitated briefly at the sudden increase in the stakes.
— “……I can probably match one more.”
Perhaps she regretted the money she had already put in, because she followed me in.
The result was, naturally—
“I won.”
I swept up the coins.
Her expression stiffened slightly.
— “……I still have coins left. I just need to win the next round.”
…….
“I have 10, and this side has 11 total. So I win.”
“Wow! No……!”
Her voice rose. Losing by a mere one-point difference seemed terribly frustrating.
— “Nailed it.”
Isol’s Minimi clenched its fist.
It looked proud, as though it thought the win was thanks to it.
“……”
The game business continued smoothly like this.
I looked around to see how things were going elsewhere, and it seemed to be proceeding smoothly there as well.
“Here you go. Enjoy~”
Shin Ayoung sold popcorn with a bright smile.
Business was going quite well. Or perhaps people were simply being drawn in to see her.
Isol handled the signals, and Shin Ayoung handled sales.
And Ji Nuri was….
— “Heh……. This is what makes running a business worthwhile, huh?”
Her Minimi fluttered a fan of money. In spirit, she was no less than the daughter of a chaebol.
She beamed as she organized the earnings they had made so far.
It probably wasn’t that much money, though.
‘Is she just getting into the mood?’
Maybe she should have gone into business instead of music.
That thought crossed my mind.
“Huh?”
Ji Nuri raised her voice and jumped to her feet.
“Where are you going?”
“Wait!”
She swiftly slipped through the bustling crowd with nimble movements.
Then she approached from the far end of the hallway, walking side by side with someone whose arm she had linked.
“Nuri unni? Are you really sure this is okay…?”
“Oh, it’s fine. It’ll only take a moment. I’ll bring her right back out.”
The person Ji Nuri had brought was none other than Ha Seorim.
The other band members trailed along behind her.
“Wait a moment.”
Ji Nuri said that and went inside the counseling room.
“……H-hello.”
“Oh.”
She bowed awkwardly.
I nodded to accept her greeting.
— “This is why I didn’t want to come……!”
Her Minimi stiffened its body and subtly avoided my gaze.
Ji Nuri returned quickly, as though she had said she would.
“Here.”
Ji Nuri handed Ha Seorim some popcorn.
Maybe she wanted to act like a senior. She had always gotten treats from Minji sunbae, so she had copied that behavior exactly.
“Oh, um….”
“It’s okay—eat comfortably. It’s on me.”
“…Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
Ha Seorim glanced around cautiously, then accepted it.
Since she was already here, perhaps she decided just to eat it.
“Since you’re here, want to play a game? It’s a chance to turn 1,000 won into 10,000.”
Ji Nuri rubbed her hands together and smiled faintly. It was the hand motion of a shopkeeper.
She coaxed her, saying it would be fun.
…Was this what she had been after all along?
“…10,000 won?”
Ha Seorim’s eyebrows twitched upward. She looked tempted.
— “…Maybe I’ll hear her out for a moment.”
Had the word “10,000 won” hooked her?
She was surprisingly easy to tempt.
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Thank you for reading Chapter 100!